Resurrecting The Champ Page #6

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who wants to talk to you.

- I ain't know I had no friends.

- Sure, you do.

Outside of you, that is.

Well, let me prove you wrong.

Hold on a sec.

- Yeah?

- Mr. LaMotta?

Who's this?

This is Erik Kernan of The Denver Times.

We spoke earlier.

Yeah. You said you wanted

to talk about Bob Satterfield.

Jake-Jake,

I'm-I'm-I'm standing right here.

Goddamn, Bob,

I thought you were dead!

Well, some days I feel like it, yeah.

- Hey, kid?

- Yeah?

Besides Bob Satterfield, the only ones

who ever hurt me were my ex-wives.

Is that right?

Yeah. Well, you know,

it's really good to- How you say, uh-

Um, uh-uh, talk to you.

How you doin'?

I'm good. Real good.

Had some trouble, but I'm okay now.

I know. I know. I-I-I seen your movie.

- You like it?

- Well, y-yeah.

Except for the part where you knock me out.

Bob, you sure you're okay?

The kid tells me you're out on the street.

You're a bum or something?

No. No, no. I ain't no bum, Jake.

I'm, I-I'm just homeless.

L- L-Look, I, uh-

I have to go, all right?

Okay. Bye, Bob.

- Thanks, Mr. LaMotta.

- Is he really okay?

Yeah. I think so.

I thought he was dead.

Boy, oh, boy.

There but for the grace of God go I.

Well, thanks a lot for speaking with me.

- Okay.

- Bye.

Champ!

He just said there was a time...

where you could have been

the best boxer in the world.

That's-That's really somethin'

comin' from the Raging Bull, huh?

Hey, Chris! We're ready!

Denver is nowjust one

of three cities left in the running...

to host the 2008

Democratic National Convention.

New Orleans has dropped out.

So, that leaves Denver, New York...

and Minneapolis still in the race.

Hey, Bruce! Bruce!

Can I take one of these?

- Yeah, sure.

- Thanks a lot, man.

- Mom, it's here!

- Bring it in!

It should in the middle by the coupons.

Ah, there. You got it. You got it.

Cool! The Champ! That's the guy

I was talking to you about, remember?

I know! What does that say?

- Resurrec-

- What does that say?

- By Erik Kernan. Cool.

- Yeah. Cool.

- Erik, greatjob on the article.

- Hey, thanks, Rob.

Hey, Ralph.

- Nice piece on this guy.

- Thanks.

Word is you're moving upstairs.

Yeah. Maybe it's a better fit.

Maybe.

Answer your phone, Erik.

Kernan.

Hey, Boy Wonder, this is Andrea Flak.

How you doing?

This was one holy-moly story you wrote.

My team was on it lickety-split.

You are on your way to a Pulitzer, Erik.

And we want you here.

How you feeling? Fan-damn-tastic?

I'm good. I'm all right.

Yeah. Uh-Who are you with?

What? Oh.

I'm with Showtime, yeah.

Oh, God. I loved this article.

Made me cry.

- Mm-hmm. - And trust me, that

is a considerable compliment...

to your literary skills, 'cause I

didn't cry when my golden retriever died.

- Be proud.

- Thank you. Thanks a lot.

So I'm sure everyone wants a piece of you.

You must be swamped with calls.

- Actually, you're my first.

- That's a surprise.

Uh, looks like

I have some messages though.

Erik, we want to give you a tryout

at Showtime Boxing-

get you on the air, in Vegas, interview Kid

McCracken after the fight Saturday night.

- Sound good to you?

- Yeah, yeah.

That sounds, uh- sounds great.

Beautiful. Get your tux dry-cleaned.

We'll talk.

You know, the syndication on this story

is pretty much through the roof.

You made me look good, Erik.

You did. Thank you.

- Really. Thank you.

- Thank you, Bing. Thank you.

See, Erik, this is the kind of piece that

can get you places. You're gonna have offers.

- You think so?

- Oh, yeah. You're gonna have offers.

Now, all I ask is

for another year from you.

I mean, uh, uh-

- Hey.

- Hey. This is Polly. Polly, this is Bing.

- Hi, Polly.

- Mr. Whitley, nice to meet you.

- She works at the newspaper as well.

- Did I ever hit on you?

- Uh, no.

- What was I thinking?

- She's actually- I couldn't have

done this story without her. - Really?

- She's the rising star of the newspaper.

- Really?

Um, so, look.

Well, can the rising star get a dance?

- Yeah, sure. Yeah. Okay-

- Okay.

- Go ahead. Have fun.

- All right. I'll see you in a second.

- Bye.

- Nice meeting you.

Okay.

- It's a great piece, Erik.

- Thank you.

- You're welcome.

- Yeah.

Metz, um- Metz got pretty pissed...

when I told him I helped you with it.

Why'd you tell him?

Because it made me proud,

being involved in the piece.

So, you gonna be

on Showtime now, or what?

Well, they've been calling,

which is-

- Not surprising.

- Amazing. Pretty amazing.

Pretty amazing.

What a night, right?

What a night.

What a night.

Hey-Just give me-

Give me a minute, okay? I'll be-

- I'll be back, all right?

- Yeah.

Okay.

Hey. Joyce, it's me.

Hey, why don't you come out

and help me celebrate?

Come on. It's early.

So, um, let me ask you a question.

So, um, let me ask you a question.

Yep.

Why didn't they use

the picture of me flexing?

I don't know.

Photo editor makes those calls. L-

I tell you what.

I would've picked that one. Yeah.

- Yeah, that's the one I would've used too.

- Really?

So, we done good, huh?

Yeah, we did great, Champ.

Yeah? Hello?

Is this Erik Kernan?

Yeah. Who's this?

My name's Ike Epstein.

You write that article about Satterfield?

- Yeah.

- Nice story.

Mm-Thank you.

But Satterfield's dead. Twenty years.

Bob Satterfield died in, uh...

'82, '83.

I just saw him last night.

Not Satterfield.

Yeah, Satterfield. L-I-

I spoke with his son... on the phone.

His son told you he was alive?

- No, but they don't get along-

- Let's get to the bottom of this.

Okay.

Did you talk to, uh...

Satterfield's trainers?

His ringmen? Anybody like that?

Most of them-

I couldn't dig 'em up.

Ernie...

Ike Epstein.

I'm good. Ernie,

you remember Bob Satterfield...

Chicago boy?

Mm-hmm.

Well, you think he's dead

or you know he's dead?

Ah, that's-that's what I think.

Okay.

Thanks. Take care of yourself.

He thinks he's dead.

It's impossible.

Never use that word anymore.

Freddy? Lke.

Listen.

You remember Bob Satterfield?

Yeah.

But do you know that for sure?

Okay. Thanks.

No, they're good.

Thank you. Thank you.

He thinks he's dead,

but he's not sure.

- Who was that?

- Freddy Bingham.

Impossible.

Freddy Bingham is dead.

I just talked to him on the telephone.

It was Freddy Benjamin you talked to.

Freddy Benjamin is dead.

- Two years ago.

- I saw Freddy Benjamin last Christmas.

Freddy Benjamin is a putz.

Plus, he's dead.

Like Satterfield.

- Hey, Champ.

- Hey, amigo. Want something to eat?

Uh, nah. How you doin'?

Oh, about 80%. Oh, maybe 90% today.

Yeah. Movin' up in the world, huh?

Fella stopped by, gave me a hundred

dollars. Read the article in the paper.

Champ, I got a question for you.

It's important. Um-

Do you have a... I. D?

Anything with your-

Driver's license, maybe?

What do you need that for?

So that I can prove that you are

who you say you are.

I mean, this guy- this ex-boxing guy-

he-he thinks that you died, and-

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